The new news 24 thread

[barefoot]

14 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

The C1 raised an eyebrow not because of its abilities in the snow but more because of the relatively low number of parcels that can physically fit in such a small vehicle.  The box the heater came in would have filled half the boot space on its own.

When I used to direct couriers for UPS at EMA, one morning a driver turned up and had forgotten to bring the keys to his van which he stored at the airport. He offered to take the express packages in his car - a Corrado! We managed to get in a surprising amount with the seats folded, but I still had to use a second, chase vehicle.

[Spurious]

15 hours ago, BL Bloke said:

The 205 did have a few advisories that I'll need to get sorted out but overall not a bad result for a 34 year old. 

It's a good feeling getting something through an MOT for another year 

[Spurious]

On 07/02/2021 at 11:25 PM, wuvvum said:

.

The diesel C2 continues to give good service - it has a cracking heater and is reasonably competent in the snow given that it's on budget summer tyres.  I treated it to a pair of wiper blades this week and I've also bought a secondhand Kenwood stereo for it off eBay - the original stereo needs reprogramming with Lexia to stop it beeping, so shoving an aftermarket one in is quicker and easier.

when the OEM radio broke in the C5 (some sort of Clarion Citroen Unit), I replaced it with a Sony with Bluetooth and it wouldn't automatically power off with an when you turned off the ignition. It's a bit of a pain, you've to remember to knock off the radio as the wiring for the radio isn't exactly the standard ISO radio wiring because Citroen 

 

[New POD]

2 hours ago, N19 said:

A few of the fly by night couriers around here turn up in a variety of middle-aged tat... although I think because lots of them are falsely self employed, if their van breaks down they have to use their car or they get a penalty.

Falsely? 

[wuvvum]

58 minutes ago, Spurious said:

when the OEM radio broke in the C5 (some sort of Clarion Citroen Unit), I replaced it with a Sony with Bluetooth and it wouldn't automatically power off with an when you turned off the ignition. It's a bit of a pain, you've to remember to knock off the radio as the wiring for the radio isn't exactly the standard ISO radio wiring because Citroen 

 

Apparently you can swap the red and yellow wires around which is supposed to cure that.  You can buy a proper adaptor for about £12 but I'm not sure I can be arsed.  It also knocks out the dash display, but on a Mk1 that only shows the radio station and the time and date, and an aftermarket radio will show the station on its display and I have a watch to tell me the time.  It'd be more awkward on a Mk2 where the trip computer functions are on that display as well.

[Spurious]

5 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

Apparently you can swap the red and yellow wires around which is supposed to cure that.  You can buy a proper adaptor for about £12 but I'm not sure I can be arsed.  It also knocks out the dash display, but on a Mk1 that only shows the radio station and the time and date, and an aftermarket radio will show the station on its display and I have a watch to tell me the time.  It'd be more awkward on a Mk2 where the trip computer functions are on that display as well.

Ah I remember googling it and finding that I could buy an adaptors and then not being arsed. 

Must swap the wiring about then so. 

[Zelandeth]

2 hours ago, wuvvum said:

My usual Hermes dude uses a C-Max as his main delivery vehicle.

The C1 raised an eyebrow not because of its abilities in the snow but more because of the relatively low number of parcels that can physically fit in such a small vehicle.  The box the heater came in would have filled half the boot space on its own.

Our usual Hermes delivery driver has been driving an early 00s Skoda Octavia - which we've been seeing regularly since the day we moved in here in 2014.  Given it's still on Polish plates and has had tyres down to the cords for at least the last two years I doubt they as an employer take any time to check things are in a suitable state.

They also regularly deliver packages for the wrong address.  Turns out trying to get Hermes to pick a parcel they've delivered incorrectly is nigh impossible so I've usually wound up just dropping them off myself.

You can get a surprising amount of stuff in a 107/C1/Auto with the seats down.  The thing which surprised me the most about mine was just how much air they had managed to fit in the cabin.  Was a huge amount of space in it for such a small (by modern standards) car.

[OM646]

The guy who delivered my new bonnet star today was driving a new Opel Insignia Estate and I was surprised to say the least

[busmansholiday]

Jump started the 206CC today and took it to the shops, first run since before Xmas.  Seemed pretty good actually. Got back and noticed that the oil pressure light was glowing dimly (did check there was oil and water in there before starting). Turned engine off and turned on ignition. Still glowing gently when it should be quite bright. Restarted and it went away, then slowly glowed.  As the oil temp sensor is also faulty I'm working on the principle that ;

a), it's probably the sensor,

b), it's French,

c), it's bloody cold so I'll wait before doing something, like checking the wiring or disconnecting the battery and reconnecting (in the correct sequence).

 

 

[Yoss]

I used to talk to the Hermes lady on my old delivery as she was an ex postie. Left to start a family then came back to Hermes as it was more flexible hours. She used to have a Transit Connect then one day I saw her in her car. Turned out the police stopped her and asked her if she had business insurance. She didn't so they told her to stop using it immediately. So she drove it home loaded the packets in her car and carried on. Used her from that day until she got a job in the mail room at the hospital, at least three years. 

Her main car was a Mitsubishi Shogun diesel. If that wasn't working she had a V6 Pajero. Sounded fabulous but probably used more on fuel than she got paid. 

[MrDuke]

5 hours ago, Spurious said:

Ah I remember googling it and finding that I could buy an adaptors and then not being arsed. 

Must swap the wiring about then so. 

Every aftermarket stereo I've fitted (not many, but definitely a couple of Sonys among them) has had shrink-wrapped connectors halfway up the yellow and red wires, so you could just pull them apart and re-connect them in a few seconds. Probably stopped doing that on modern stereos though, to save 0.02p on production costs...

[Spurious]

5 hours ago, MrDuke said:

Every aftermarket stereo I've fitted (not many, but definitely a couple of Sonys among them) has had shrink-wrapped connectors halfway up the yellow and red wires, so you could just pull them apart and re-connect them in a few seconds. Probably stopped doing that on modern stereos though, to save 0.02p on production costs...

I'll have a look when I'm out in it next.  Thanks

[barefoot]

The Rover 75 has just drained its brand new battery. Is there some clever sequence of disconnecting/reconnecting a new battery (like on the Peugeot 206 above) that I'm not following, or is it likely to be something more complex?

[New POD]

On 08/02/2021 at 21:47, Split_Pin said:

The old engine on the Corsa was knocking and it was replaced. I completely  stripped it down tonight and the piston which I thought was knocking has no play in the small end like I thought. 

However, I do recall taking the plugs out and an electrode was missing from the piston closest to the gearbox, looks like this is what it did:

This was the piston that I heard the knock from. The crown is also pretty howling and looks very chopped and potted, like its mashed something. All the bore looked fine.

Would that chip cause anything untoward?

Probably not. 

[wuvvum]

6 hours ago, barefoot said:

The Rover 75 has just drained its brand new battery. Is there some clever sequence of disconnecting/reconnecting a new battery (like on the Peugeot 206 above) that I'm not following, or is it likely to be something more complex?

Not that I'm aware of - the 75 electrics aren't complex (or French) enough for that kind of thing to be required I don't think.  I've certainly never done anything special when removing / replacing batteries.

[Wilko220]

6 hours ago, barefoot said:

The Rover 75 has just drained its brand new battery. Is there some clever sequence of disconnecting/reconnecting a new battery (like on the Peugeot 206 above) that I'm not following, or is it likely to be something more complex?

 

4 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

Not that I'm aware of - the 75 electrics aren't complex (or French) enough for that kind of thing to be required I don't think.  I've certainly never done anything special when removing / replacing batteries.

Same. I've changed batteries on a couple of different R75s and never had to do anything like that.

[Wilko220]

19 hours ago, Yoss said:

Turned out the police stopped her and asked her if she had business insurance. She didn't so they told her to stop using it immediately. So she drove it home loaded the packets in her car and carried on.

Surely that would have just meant needing business insurance on her car instead?

[barefoot]

21 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

Not that I'm aware of

 

16 minutes ago, Wilko220 said:

Same. 

Fuck - mystery drain!

[wuvvum]

18 minutes ago, Wilko220 said:

Surely that would have just meant needing business insurance on her car instead?

True, but less likely to be stopped and asked the question by plod...

[Yoss]

1 hour ago, Wilko220 said:

Surely that would have just meant needing business insurance on her car instead?

 

Welcome to the world of courier delivery. 

[Jmac]

10 hours ago, barefoot said:

The Rover 75 has just drained its brand new battery. Is there some clever sequence of disconnecting/reconnecting a new battery (like on the Peugeot 206 above) that I'm not following, or is it likely to be something more complex?

Courtesy light on in boot or glove box ? . Do rovers have such luxury? . 🙂

[wuvvum]

Rover 75s have about eleventy twelve courtesy lights, thankyouverymuch.

[wuvvum]

Unless they're Project Drive models obvs.

[richardmorris]

Day off work today, so after visiting the bank, petrol station, waitrose and Laithwaites ( get all the essential trips done in one go) I took the cover off the 2cv for the first time this year. Checked  the car was still there, and battery charged and put it back on again. My life is full of excitement like this!

[jmsguzzi]

Was it anybody on here in the Honda crossover thing who flashed me in South Shields tonight? 
 

Enjoying the Inca, perfect snowmobile and very charming.

(watch me have a massive crash on my way home tonight) 

 

[robinmasters]

On 2/9/2021 at 1:49 PM, New POD said:

Falsely? 

My (admittedly very poor) memory of the laws on employment is that if someone tells you when, where and how to do your work, you're considered an employee. 

[New POD]

3 minutes ago, robinmasters said:

My (admittedly very poor) memory of the laws on employment is that if someone tells you when, where and how to do your work, you're considered an employee. 

IR35?  

[robinmasters]

4 minutes ago, New POD said:

IR35?  

I worked in employers liability insurance, so was mainly interested in what training and PPE was provided. IR35 is to stop self-employed individuals setting themselves up as a limited company just to avoid tax/NI isn't it? 

[New POD]

Just now, robinmasters said:

I worked in employers liability insurance, so was mainly interested in what training and PPE was provided. IR35 is to stop self-employed individuals setting themselves up as a limited company just to avoid tax/NI isn't it? 

Yes.  But surely the same principles apply.  

[robinmasters]

30 minutes ago, New POD said:

Yes.  But surely the same principles apply.  

I've just had a look at the government's 'idiots guide to IR35' page, and the focus is on ensuring that a self-employed contractor is paying roughly the same tax & NI as they would it they were a direct employee. 

It doesn't really go into any detail about who should be considered an employee so I'm probably looking at the wrong source, but I would imagine the test would be similar.